Terrorism policy flaws 'increased risk of attacks', says former police chief 07 Jul 2010 Britain's fight against terrorism has been a disaster, because its "flawed, neo-conservative" direction alienated Muslims and increased the chances of terrorist attacks, a former leading counter-terrorism officer has told the Guardian. Speaking to mark today's fifth anniversary of the 7 July attacks [an inside job, six ways to Sunday] in London, Dr Robert Lambert said the atrocity had led the Labour government to launch not just the publicly declared battle against al-Qaida, but a much wider counter-subversive campaign that targeted non-violent Muslims and branded them as supporters of violence.

Gulf of Mexico awash with 27,000 abandoned wells - report 07 Jul 2010 More than 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells lurk in the hard rock beneath the Gulf of Mexico, an environmental minefield that has been ignored for decades. No one - not industry, not government - is checking to see if they are leaking, an Associated Press investigation shows. The oldest of these wells were abandoned in the late 1940s, raising the prospect that many deteriorating sealing jobs are already failing.

US-led attack kills 6 Afghan soldiers 07 Jul 2010 Six Afghan soldiers have been killed when their post was attacked by a US-led aircraft in central Afghanistan, police sources have announced. The air strike that occurred late Tuesday was originally aimed at Taliban militants in Ghazni, a province in south-central Afghanistan, Nawruz Ali Mohamoodzada, a provincial police official said Wednesday, describing the attack as "friendly fire," AFP reported.

U.S. Launches 'Stamping Out Pandemic and Avian Influenza' Program 07 Jul 2010 The STOP AI (Stamping Out Pandemic and Avian Influenza) project, funded by the United States Government through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) [an overfunded terrorist group whose agents, for example, trained Latin American police on the use of torture in the 1960s], launched a Cleaning and Disinfection (C&D) programme here on Tuesday. The USAID, through the STOP AI initiative, collaborated with the Sreepur Municipality and the market committee of Gazipur to develop a market improvement plan to prevent the spread of highly pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). [The *actual* goal is to get an avian pandemic party started, so the pharmaterroists can make a(nother) *killing.* -LRP]

Censorship and cover-up in the Gulf oil disaster By Tom Eley 06 July 2010 The Obama administration has intensified its cover-up of the BP oil disaster. On July 1 it issued an order barring the public and the news media from coming within 65 feet of clean-up operations without permission from the Coast Guard. The transparent aim of the order, which purports to protect the safety of clean-up workers, is to prevent the population from viewing the devastation wrought by the BP oil blowout... The real concern the White House has is that clean-up workers might reveal something about the dangerous conditions under which they work and the real scale of the environmental devastation--defying a gag order imposed by BP.

General Petraeus takes command as killing in Afghanistan escalates By Bill Van Auken 06 Jul 2010 In assuming formal command of the US-led war in Afghanistan over the weekend, Gen. David Petraeus reiterated his indications that the military will alter its rules of engagement, allowing a more unrestricted use of air strikes and artillery bombardments in support of American ground troops. Such a shift will inevitably mean a major escalation in the slaughter of Afghan civilians. The killing of civilians by foreign occupation troops has fueled the insurgency in Afghanistan, which is now stronger than at any time since the US intervened in the country nearly nine years ago.

HSBC offshore accounts under investigation by US tax authorities --The move has sparked speculation that HSBC has handed over clients' personal information to the authorities. 06 Jul 2010 The US government has begun a criminal investigation into whether clients of HSBC are evading tax by putting money in undeclared bank accounts in Singapore and India, widening a crackdown on offshore secrecy that began with a successful prosecution of Switzerland's UBS. A senior official at the US department of justice, Kevin Downing, has written to certain US residents with accounts at HSBC asking for details of their offshore holdings.

Postal Service Seeks 2-Cent Rise in First-Class Mail 06 Jul 2010 The U.S. Postal Service proposed raising the price of first-class stamps by 2 cents, to 46 cents, while rates for periodicals increase 8 percent and parcels 23 percent to narrow a deficit projected at $7 billion this year. The increases would generate $2.3 billion in the first nine months of 2011, the service said today in a statement. Increases, which must be reviewed by Postal Regulatory Commission, would take effect Jan. 2.

Justice Dept. sues, seeks injunction on Ariz. immigration law 06 Jul 2010 The Justice Department filed suit Tuesday against Arizona, charging that the state's new immigration law is unconstitutional and requesting a preliminary injunction to stop the legislation from taking effect. The lawsuit says the law illegally intrudes on federal prerogatives, invoking as its main argument the legal doctrine of "preemption," which is based on the Constitution's supremacy clause and says that federal law trumps state statutes. The Justice Department argues that enforcing immigration laws is a federal responsibility.

British soldier dies in hospital after Afghan blast 06 Jul 2010 A British soldier has died in hospital after being injured in an explosion in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said. The soldier, from 1st Battalion, The Mercian Regiment, was on patrol in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand on Sunday when he was caught in the blast.

Four US-led troops killed in Afghanistan 06 Jul 2010 Four more US-led soldiers have been killed in separate bomb explosions in southern and eastern Afghanistan amid a surge in violence. NATO said in a statement on Tuesday that three soldiers were killed in bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan. A fourth trooper has also died in a bomb blast in the east.

Tar balls reach Texas -- every Gulf state now touched 05 Jul 2010 More than two months after oil from BP's blown-out sea floor well first reached Louisiana, tar balls are now washing onto a Texas beach, meaning the crude has arrived in every Gulf state. Oil is still on the move, but the fleet of skimmers tapped to clean the worst-hit areas of the Gulf of Mexico is not. A string of storms has made the water too choppy for the boats to operate for more than a week off Florida, Alabama and Mississippi, even though the gusher continues.

New York, Northeast Broiling Under Dangerous Heat 06 Jul 2010 New Yorkers are being warned to stay in the shade and check on relatives and neighbors today as temperatures are forecast to break 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) for the first time in more than eight years. The highest temperature ever recorded in the city was 106 on July 9, 1936, while the longest stretch of consecutive 100- plus days on record at Central Park came in 1993, when it rose from 100 on July 8 to 102 on July 10. The last time temperatures rose to 100 or more was on Aug. 9, 2001, when it was 103.

Army Intelligence Analyst Charged With Leaking Classified Information 06 Jul 2010 A U.S. Army intelligence analyst suspected of leaking videos and documents to Wikileaks was charged Monday with eight violations of federal criminal law, including unauthorized computer access, and a single count of transmitting classified information to an unauthorized third party in violation of the Espionage Act. Pfc. Bradley Manning, 22, was charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice with two violations encompassing the eight alleged criminal offenses, and two non-criminal violations of Army regulations governing the handling of classified information and computers.

Justice Dept. to sue Arizona over immigration law 06 Jul 2010 The Justice Department has decided to file suit against Arizona on grounds that the state's new immigration law illegally intrudes on federal prerogatives, law enforcement sources said Monday. The lawsuit, which three sources said could be filed as early as Tuesday, will invoke for its main argument the legal doctrine of "preemption," which is based on the Constitution's supremacy clause and says that federal law trumps state statutes. Justice Department officials believe that enforcing immigration laws is a federal responsibility, the sources said.

TSA to Block "Controversial Opinion" on the Web 03 Jul 2010 The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is blocking certain websites from the federal agency's computers, including halting access by staffers to any Internet pages that contain a "controversial opinion," according to an internal email obtained by CBS News. The email was sent to all TSA employees from the Office of Information Technology on Friday afternoon. It states that as of July 1, TSA employees will no longer be allowed to access five categories of websites that have been deemed "inappropriate for government access." [Tsa.gov frequently visits the CLG - guess that's one less .gov that will appear in the logs.]

Vt. soldier, wounded 4 years ago in Iraq, dies in Afghanistan 05 Jul 2010 He was injured while serving in Iraq several years ago, his leg wounded from an improvised explosive device. But Specialist Ryan J. Grady of the Vermont Army National Guard was determined to be a career soldier, and headed back overseas in March, this time to Afghanistan. On Friday, Grady died shortly after his military vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device near Bagram Airfield.

U.S. Tax-Exempt Funds Aid Jewish Settlements in West Bank 06 Jul 2010 As the American government seeks to end the four-decade Jewish settlement enterprise and foster a Palestinian state in the West Bank, the American Treasury helps sustain the settlements through tax breaks on donations to support them. A New York Times examination of public records in the United States and Israel identified at least 40 American groups that have collected more than $200 million in tax-deductible gifts for Jewish settlement in the West Bank and East Jerusalem over the last decade. The money goes mostly to... legitimate expenditures under the tax law. But it has also paid for more legally questionable commodities: housing as well as guard dogs, bulletproof vests, rifle scopes and vehicles to secure outposts deep in occupied areas.

Report: Oceans' demise near irreversible --Moving toward the tipping point 04 Jul 2010 A sobering new report warns that oceans face a "fundamental and irreversible ecological transformation" not seen in millions of years as greenhouse gases and climate change already have affected temperature, acidity, sea and oxygen levels, the food chain and possibly major currents that could alter global weather. The report, in Science magazine, doesn't break a lot of new ground, but it brings together dozens of studies that collectively paint a dismal picture of deteriorating ocean health.

Coalition wants G20 'political' prisoners released 05 Jul 2010 The mass detention of people and widespread use of police force over the G20 summit weekend was a gross abuse of state power that demands an independent inquiry and the immediate release of "political prisoners," a civil-rights coalition said Monday. In addition, they said, those responsible for "one of the most grotesque public expressions of police brutality, intimidation and mass violation of civil liberties" need to be held to account.

2 British soldiers killed within hours 06 Jul 2010 The death of a second British Royal Marine in Afghanistan within hours takes the overall British death toll to 312. Amid a surge in militant attacks against the foreign forces stationed in Afghanistan, the first British soldier was killed by an explosion Monday night near Sangin. The second one was killed in the early hours of Tuesday in a gun battle with militants in the same district of Helmand province, Britain's Ministry of Defense said.

5 EU states call for end to Gaza siege 06 Jul 2010 Five European countries have called for the implementation of the United Nations Security Council resolution which calls for the blockade of the Gaza Strip to be lifted. On Monday, the foreign ministers of Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and Britain underlined "the need for a fundamental change of policy leading to a durable solution to the situation in Gaza, in line with the UNSC Resolution 1860," the Italian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, AFP reported.

Terror stop and search powers will have to stop, says Europe 02 Jul 2010 Police will have to abandon a key power to stop and search suspects under terrorism laws after a European court ruled it illegal and rejected a Home Office appeal. Under the Terrorism Act 2000, officers can stop and search anyone in a designated area without having to show reasonable suspicion. But police have been accused of abusing the power, which resulted in more than 250,000 searches last year, in order to stop anyone, including protesters or photographers, under the guise of preventing terrorism.

NM firefighter joins No-Fly List lawsuit 02 Jul 2010 A former fireman and veteran born and raised in Las Cruces has joined a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union challenging his placement on the federal No-Fly List. Retired Air Force officer Steve Washburn and nine other men and women, including a disabled Marine Corps veteran and an Army veteran, are suing Attorney General Eric Holder, FBI Director Robert Mueller and Timothy Healy, the director of the Terrorist Screening Center, a seven-year-old organization administered by the FBI. Six of the 10 plaintiffs remain stranded overseas, unable to return to the U.S., according to the court complaint...

Recovery effort falls vastly short of BP's promises 06 Jul 2010 In the 77 days since oil from the ruptured Deepwater Horizon began to gush into the Gulf of Mexico, BP has skimmed or burned about 60 percent of the amount it promised regulators it could remove in a single day. In a March report that was not questioned by federal officials, BP said it had the capacity to skim and remove 491,721 barrels of oil each day in the event of a major spill. As of Monday, with about 2 million barrels released into the gulf, the skimming operations that were touted as key to preventing environmental disaster have averaged less than 900 barrels a day.

UK: Terrorism Search Power Violates Rights --Despite almost 450,000 section 44 stops and searches throughout the UK between April 2007 and April 2009, no one was successfully prosecuted for a terrorism offense as a result. 04 Jul 2010 The new UK coalition government should repeal an abusive counterterrorism power that has led to hundreds of thousands of people being stopped and searched without reasonable suspicion of criminal wrongdoing, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The 64-page report, "Without Suspicion: Stop and Search under the Terrorism Act 2000," examines the use of the stop-and-search power under section 44 of the act. The power is intended to prevent terrorism.

Gazans: We were used as 'human shields' --A report exclusive to Ynet reveals testimonies of Strip residents who claim soldiers used them as 'human shields' during Operation Cast Lead. 06 Jul 2010 A series of testimonies in a report probing Operation Cast Lead suggest that IDF soldiers used Gazans as human shields. The report - exclusively obtained by Ynet - was compiled by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) and Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, and focuses mainly on violation of Palestinian prisoners' rights by the Israeli military during the Gaza war.

Department of Homeland Security to take control of spill response website --The DHS wants one site for information that is completely overseen by the government. 04 Jul 2010 The US government is expected to take over control of the central information website on the Gulf oil spill response that has been run jointly by various agencies and BP for the 2 1/2 months since the rig explosion. BP and the federal government are part of a unified command that is working together to try to [pretend to] contain the oil gusher, but the government has been directing BP at every turn. A DHS spokesman told The Associated Press on Sunday that the joint relationship won't change when the website is given a dot-gov address instead of a dot-com address.

5 US soldiers killed in Afghanistan 04 Jul 2010 Five US soldiers have been killed after a convoy carrying supplies for the US-led troops was attacked by the Taliban militants in Afghanistan's Zabul province. The US soldiers were killed Saturday after an improvised explosive device blew up a tanker passing the area near the Pakistani border, Pakistan's The Nation newspaper quoted Taliban sources as saying.

Iran drones to safeguard border bases 04 Jul 2010 A top Iranian Air Force commander says the Army plans to equip all border bases with domestic unmanned areal vehicles (UAVs) within the next few months. "These drones are to carry only reconnaissance missions for the time being," Deputy Operations Commander Majid Pirhadi told Fars News Agency on Sunday. He said that the Army would prioritize deployment to bases on its southern and western borders.